IDLI

Idli is a very popular breakfast item in the southern regions of India. It is a very simple dish to prepare. It is nutritious & healthy to eat, because it is steamed. Once the batter is made, it is very easy to make idlis & dosas. With the batter in the refrigerator, we need not worry about entertaining guests at any time of the day.

For the Batter:

Preparation Time: 4 - 5 hrs

Ingredients:

Idli rice (boiled rice) - 4 cups

Whole black gram (full urud dal

without the skin) - 1 cup

Salt - to taste

Method:

Wash & soak the rice for at least 4 to 5 hours in water. Grind the rice with enough water in the grinder or mixer till it is nice & soft. Soak the urud Dal in water when the rice is put in the grinder. Let it soak for a couple of hours. Then grind the Dal with enough water. It should get into a foamy consistency. Mix both rice batter & urud batter together with enough salt. Leave it overnight to ferment. Idli batter is ready. This batter can be used to make dosa also. Though we can use the mixer to grind the batter, i would strongly recommend using the grinder for soft idlis.

Some people use rice & dal in 3:1 proportion instead of the 4:1 proportion I've given in my recipe.

For idlis:

Preparation Time:10 mts Cooking Time: 10 mts Serves: 4

Batter for idli - 2 cups

Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp

Method:

Take the idli cooker & spread the oil in the grooves for the idlis. With the help of a ladle, pour the idli batter in to the grooves. Steam it in the idli cooker for 10 mts. When u poke a knife into the idli it should come out without sticking. Then the idli is ready. This can be had with coconut chutney, sambar or chutney powder.

Variations:

We can make vegetable idlis also. While pouring the batter, pour 1/2 & then put some vegetable masala into it & then pour the rest of the batter. We can also use a cooker vessel to make vegetable idli. Spread oil in the cooker vessel & pour a layer of the batter. Then spread the vegetable mix on top of that. Then spread one more layer of the batter & steam it in the cooker. This will look like a cake. We can cut it into pieces & use. Children will like it very much.

Those who stay abroad can use the cream of rice instead of the boiled rice. Soak it in enough water for an hour. Grind the urud dal, add it to the soaked cream of rice & mix it. Rest of the recipe is same.

Tips:

1. While soaking the urud dal, we can add a tsp. of fenugreek seeds to the dal. This will make the idlis soft & nice smelling.
2. Adding a tsp. of gingelly oil to the batter before making idlis will make the idlis soft.
3. Grind the urud dal till bubbles appear in the batter. Also the batter will feel cold in our hands. Then it is ready.
4. We can also soak the dal & keep it in the refrigerator till it is ready to grind (2 hrs approximately).
5. While grinding the urud dal we should pour enough water along with the dal & grind. This will help us get it in the right consistency.

Try it & enjoy.